Thankfully this happened after an essential oils convention I was attending but whilst away in Amsterdam in May, I had an experience which enabled me to use one of my newest oils received as part of the convention kit I’d just bought.
Whilst waiting to cross the road at a zebra crossing a cyclist went past and dinged his bell which made me ‘jump out of my skin’, I didn’t physically jump but my body’s reflexes did and with that my calf muscle just ‘went’ which was excruciating.
Having ruptured the calf muscle of my other leg four years ago I knew exactly what I’d done, I could move my toes, point my foot slightly so it wasn’t my Achilles tendon. We’d just had a delicious meal at the Avocado Show restaurant with some friends and my Mum and Kim who I’d gone with all came to the rescue with a prompt Uber taxi to take us back to the hotel, Kim giving Reiki and me applying Deep Blue essential oil straight away (a magic oil that works on pain and inflammation). It was so intense the deep throb of cramp which couldn’t release.
Once we got to the hotel I was helped inside and started to have a bit of a shock reaction, you know a bit like the ‘wobbles’ and tears started to come and thoughts of what am I going to do now, how am I going to get home, how am I going to work, what about my clients. Oh those unhelpful thoughts! So I applied Lavender to the back of my neck and immediately felt myself calm, relax, and my leg started to feel a bit warm and whilst there wasn’t a dramatic change I felt the relaxation spread down my leg. After all I’d been pushing myself a lot and perhaps it was my body saying you need a rest!
The office of the hotel lent me their wheelie office chair which doubled up as a fun wheelchair to get me to my room and from there the rest of our trip changed. Kim rearranged flights and booked in special assistance for me and became Nurse Kim along with Nurse Mum!
Oils wise: I knew all about Birch one of the convention kit’s oils, what a little treasure this became! It’s very similar in compounds to Wintergreen (one of the magical ingredients of Deep Blue blend) it’s excellent for muscles, bones, joints and remembered reading somewhere it helps to heal broken bones. I applied it every two hours and felt it’s effects work immediately with a tiny bit more movement, pain subsiding and a warmth in my leg; I felt a bit giggly, it reminded me of the morphine I’d had in hospital! I went to sleep very happy and woke the next morning feeling absolutely no pain until my leg was pointing downwards with the blood rushing to it, I couldn’t flex my foot at all but what an overnight improvement in terms of continual pain. No weight on it still but I knew Birch was helping along with Lavender every two hours.
We had fun at Schiphol and Gatwick airports with the Special Assistance teams who were so helpful with their sense of humour, special lifts, chairs and access. From Gatwick I went straight to A & E as I needed a pair of crutches. The nurse advised me to take painkillers rather than use essential oils (it wasn’t the time, although it was the place to do an oil consultation especially in a stressed out A & E department!) I just wanted my crutches and to get out asap, I knew what I needed to do.
I felt continued improvement with the use of Birch and Deep Blue Rub, soon able to put weight on my foot and rotate the ankle, flexing my foot in small amounts. Once the bruising started to come out sensations changed from intense cramp to a hot bruise with the skin stinging, very painful, yet needing to keep it moving when not elevated. My oil regime changed to:
- Lavender –instantly calming the skin acting as an analgesic, bringing blood flow to the area
- Geranium – increase circulation and help reduce inflammation
- Frankincense – it always helps whatever the problem but intentionally picked for helping with internal wounds, anti-inflammatory, and easing the mind!
- Helichrysum – anticoagulant (just in case, the nurse warned me about a DVT), anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and also good for internal wounds and deep healing
By this stage at the end of each day my leg had had enough and it was time to ice. Although recommended by therapist friends not to ice as it reduces blood flow, with it being overly warm and swollen and quite uncomfortable just 20 mins of ice allowed me go to get to sleep with a comfortable leg, ready to rise in the morning hoping to feel even better than the day before.
As part of the healing process I had two Bowen treatments from Maxine Crinall (Seale Natural Health) which provided welcomed relief, particularly the first one as it dealt with the trauma of the accident. I love how this feels when the connective tissue moves regardless of me (hard to explain but fascinating to experience). Obviously not walking properly means pressure’s put on other parts of the body and you’re of course out of alignment whilst the body compensates. Maxine reminded me about Arnica (excellent for bruising) although I was quite happy using just my oils I decided to take my homeopathic Arnica and also added Arnica Massage Oil to my rollerball oil blend of lavender, geranium, frankincense and helichrysum, “whatever it takes!” I thought.
After approximately 17 days I started driving again, didn’t need the crutches and had a slight limp, nearly all the purple from the bruising had gone and was left with a nice shade of yellow. Not a bad result in the space of 17 days considering it took a lot longer when I’d injured my right calf (before I knew about using essential oils as plant medicine).
Having my oils helped me to feel in control of my healing process, completely empowering and better for me than taking painkillers, in fact I only took two when I first tore the muscle and no more after that. An added bonus was I smelt nice and got to experience the effects of my newest oil Birch (I shall remember ‘him’ as the giggly/numbing/morphine effect hehe!)